Fantasy Writing Building Blocks
(two-hour workshop or one-day course)

Brainstorming the sparks that can inspire writing (eg a theme, a character, a chance conversation, a question)

The elements of building a believable fantasy world

How to grab the reader from the first line or paragraph

Workshopping attendees’ opening paragraphs for their works in progress

Rates:
Narrelle’s rate for a two-hour workshop is $400 (plus GST)The rate for a one-day workshop is f $750 (plus GST), which covers the six hour course and breaks.

Writing about Sex and Intimacy
(two-hour workshop or one-day course)

NOTE: Due to the nature of this workshop, participants should be 18 years or older.

Scenes about sex and intimacy are an important tool for writers, but difficult to do well. There’s even an award for writers who get it horribly wrong – Literary Review magazine’s Bad Sex Award. How can writers know when to include scenes of sex and intimacy, and how can they strike the right balance? This workshop explores the following ideas frankly.

What is the difference between sex and intimacy?

Why can it be difficult to write these scenes well (especially if they are explicit)?

What are the elements of a good (or bad) sex scene?

How necessary are scenes of sex and intimacy to your story?

The one day version of this workshop contains more detail, the analysis of extracts, and writing sessions for attendees to apply some of the things they’ve learned to a new scene or a work in progress.

Rates:
Narrelle’s rate for a two-hour workshop is $400 (plus GST)The rate for a one-day workshop is f $750 (plus GST), which covers the six hour course and breaks.

Killer Opening Sentences
(two-hour workshop)

How do you grab the reader from the first line? What are the different approaches to opening paragraphs?

In this workshop, participants compare a range of opening lines and discuss what makes a first sentence effective and engaging, discuss the different approaches and examine the difference between ‘active’ and ‘action’ as it applies to opening a story. Participants then have an opportunity to workshop their existing stories in progress or begin a new work as an exercise for discussion and feedback.

Participants should bring their own works in progress to workshop the opening of their story. If they don’t have a current WiP, keywords will be given to spark ideas for writing something.

I'll be talking about the enduring popularity of the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his biographer, Dr John Watson, exploring the elements of a quintessential Holmes story within the context of modern interpretations: whether he’s depicted as a Victorian gentleman, a 21st Century detective, a cartoon mouse, a Japanese woman, or in a loving relationship with his best friend, John Watson.

Booking details etc will be added when they're available.

Workshops and Talks

Narrelle is an incredibly knowledgeable, articulate and energetic presenter. That coupled with her great sense of humour made for an extremely entertaining evening. Olivia Simaitis, Waurn Ponds Library.
Book Narrelle M Harris as a speaker